23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are leaving no stone unturned in uncovering the France family’s ‘monopolistic control’ of NASCAR. Earlier this week, they reached out to Formula 1 and the NFL for documents on the competition revenue to draw a comparison to NASCAR and prove the ‘monopoly.’ However, they were met with a swift ‘no’ from the two, and now, they have decided to pivot to Roger Penske for help by reaching out to IndyCar!

The businessman, race team owner, and former professional driver owns a multi-billion dollar enterprise, Penske Corporation. IndyCar operates under Roger Penske as well. However, Team Penske was also one of the 13 Cup Series teams that signed the latest charter agreement, which 23XI Racing and FRM did not. So, Michael Jordan’s plea for help may go unheeded.

Michael Jordan is running out of options

As part of the ongoing NASCAR lawsuit, 23XI and FRM are seeking financial information. However, to get to their primary goal of ‘discovering’ the France family’s records, they first seek those from other sports leagues. Aside from formal requests, Michael Jordan and Co. have also issued subpoenas to the NFL, NBA, NHL, and Formula 1 to reveal crucial documents.

The main objective is to show examples of how other series operate to prove that Jim France has been operating NASCAR as an unlawful monopoly. This is commonly referred to as the ‘yardstick method’ in legal circles, used to prove economic damages in suits of this nature. As legitimate as this may seem, the requested leagues were far from helpful – and now they include Roger Penske’s enterprise.

Michael Jordan‘s legal request to the NFL was strongly swept aside. The football league’s main argument was that Jeffrey Kessler was “a serial legal opponent” to the NFL. In 1991, the landmark Freeman McNeil case against the NFL, led by Kessler, established the concept of free agency in that league. But Jordan and Co. are not easily backing down. Journalist Bob Pockrass updated on X: “Add INDYCAR to the list of leagues that 23XI and Front Row have gone to court to try to compel compliance with a subpoena. 23XI/FRM want info such as Leaders Circle agreements with teams and overall INDYCAR revenues.”

Clearly, Jeffrey Kessler meant it when he proclaimed the objectives of Michael Jordan’s lawsuit. “No one is bringing this type of fight, this type of lawsuit, to move from a (Grade) D-plus deal to a D deal. That is not going to happen.” However, their pursuit to seek help from Roger Penske may turn futile. After all, the latter’s Cup Series team has benefited most under NASCAR’s current model.

Since the Next-Gen car debuted in 2022, Penske has dominated the championship, with Joey Logano (2022, 2024) and Ryan Blaney (2023) holding crowns. So Penske may not be willing to change anything that would upset the current format, which is one of the potential consequences NASCAR has listed if they lose the lawsuit.

Ahead of the 2025 Daytona 500 qualifying, NASCAR issued an appeal against 23XI and Front Row Motorsports’ preliminary injunction approval, which occurred in December 2024. The 68-page appeal was filled with claims that the court wrongly ruled in favor of 23XI and FRM. An article published by Jenna Fryer of AP Sports read, “Should 23XI and Front Row prevail, it is believed NASCAR will eliminate the charter system outright.” This would be a damning move for Team Penske if they decided to help 23XI, especially considering IndyCar introduced the establishment of a charter system across the NTT INDYCAR SERIES last fall.

A chartered entry is guaranteed a starting position on the grid at all NTT INDYCAR SERIES races. But this excludes the Indianapolis 500. Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles was enthusiastic about the new system. “This is an important development that demonstrates an aligned and optimistic vision for the future of our sport”. So Penske’s edging towards NASCAR is not a good sign for Michael Jordan.

Besides, Roger Penske’s IndyCar enterprise is nowhere close to NASCAR. This was a point of rebuttal that the open-wheel racing series offered to Michael Jordan’s request.

Getting snubbed yet again

Well, the differences between IndyCar and NASCAR are visible. While a Cup Series car runs on aspirated V8 engines and goes up to 180 MPH, an IndyCar vehicle uses a turbocharged engine and picks up to 240 MPH. More simply, the wheels do not stick out on a stock car as they do on an open-wheel car. But besides these obvious differences, other disparities also exist between the two sports.

Roger Penske took over IndyCar in 2019, introducing changes that drastically changed the sport. These involved expanding the frontstretch areas of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and boosting the social media presence of IndyCar. On the other hand, NASCAR has been developing itself for seven decades, already holding a dominant presence in motorsports.

So, Michael Jordan got yet another rejection. Bob Pockrass updated on X “why INDYCAR doesn’t feel it should be forced to give up financial info to 23XI and FRM.” The filing read, “NASCAR and IndyCar are distinctive sports organizations that each have their own unique business operations, practices, contractual agreements, programs, and services. There is no comparison that would make the granular inner workings of INDYCAR’s business operations, financials, revenues, and charters, among other things, relevant to NASCAR’s alleged anti-competitive business practices with respect to NASCAR’s charter agreements… The Requests are overly broad, unduly burdensome, not proportional to the needs of the case.”

What IndyCar is trying to say in simple terms is firstly, they don’t see the leagues to be comparable at all, and secondly, they feel the requests are too much work and will not add any value to the case for Michael Jordan’s team.

Clearly, Roger Penske’s IndyCar and other leagues are not willing to help Michael Jordan. As the legal battle ensues, we can only wait and see which side inclines towards a win. Do you think 23XI is reaching too far in a bid to take down NASCAR? Let us know in the comments!